COVID-19 pandemic lessons to facilitate future engagement in the global climate crisis

Krystal M Perkins; Nora Munguia; Michael Ellenbecker; Rafael Moure-Eraso; Luis Velazquez

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125178

COVID-19 pandemic lessons to facilitate future engagement in the global climate crisis

J Clean Prod. 2021 Mar 25:290:125178. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125178. Epub 2020 Nov 17.

Authors

Krystal M Perkins¹, Nora Munguia², Michael Ellenbecker³, Rafael Moure-Eraso⁴, Luis Velazquez²

Affiliations

¹ Psychology, School of Natural and Social Sciences Purchase College, State University of New York, 735 Anderson Hill Rd, Purchase, NY, 10577, USA.
² Sustainability Graduate Program/Industrial Engineering, University of Sonora, Blvd. Luis Encinas y Rosales S/N, Colonia Centro, 83000, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
³ Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Co-Director Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Institute, The Offices at Boott Mills West 126 John Street, Suite 14, Lowell, MA, 01852, USA.
⁴ Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 100 Pawtucket Street Lowell, MA, USA.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in January 2020. As of November 2020, over 54 million cases and over 1 million deaths have been reported globally. The sudden coronavirus global pandemic has also pointed to the importance of tackling the global climate crisis even more urgently. This article discusses six lessons drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic that can inform and facilitate greater future engagement in the global climate crisis. These lessons were identified through monitoring and analyzing media coverage of COVID-19 related events during the initial onset of COVID-19 in late January 2020 to June 30, 2020. The key lessons included the potentiality of reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse emissions, the significance of responding late, a case for strong sustainability, the limits of rugged individualism, a (mis)trust in science, and the possibility of large-scale change. The insights put forward point to the fact that, like the COVID-19 pandemic, people need to continue to attach their health to expectations of government action in the context of the global climate crisis.

Keywords: COVID-19; Climate change; Climate crisis; Future climate actions; Lessons.

Publication types

Review